Air purifier construction



April 6, 1965 w. A. OMOHUNDRO 3,176,448

AIR PURIFIER CONSTRUCTION Filed June 7. 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet l III/II [)7 venison" |4/////?)77 A. Omaha/7&0,

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AIR PURIFIER CONSTRUCTION Filed June 7. 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 WVv 49 l I E i [2'7 vent 0r:

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W. A. OMOHUNDRO AIR PURIFIER CONSTRUCTION April 6, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 7. 1961 tion's required'to assemble the parts into a casing.

States Patent s, 311 3 4 ,7 AIR PURIFIER 'CQNSTRUCTIQN 7 William A. Ornohundro, Westport, Conn, assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed June 7,- 1961, Ser. No. 115,351 8 Claims; (til. 5-'27 invention, there is disclosed an air purifier comprising an ultra-violet lam'pion' generator, a fan, a fan motor, filters, and a casing. While these components could be manufactured in a number of different ways and a multiplicity of different arrangements could be provided for assembling' the components in an air purifier casing, it is especially desirable that they be s 't'u'rdily constructed and securely assembled in an air purifier casing. It is also desirable to provide" an air purifier construction which may be manufactured at relatively low cost. It is most important therefore to reduce to a minimum the'number of partsrequired, thenumber of manufacturing operations to he performed on each part, and the number of opera- It is also, of: course, desirable to provide an air purifier which is constructed so that the ultra-violet lampand the filters may be. readily removed to permit easy replacement.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of thisinvention to provide an improved low cost construction assembly for an air purifier having a minimum number of parts which may be easily manufactured and assembledi In accordance with'one of the aspects of this invention,

a casinghaving-upstanding front, rear and side walls and generallyparallel' topand bottornwalls is provided for supporting'and enclosing the parts of a room air purifier.

-A'= barrier plate subass'embly is' provided for mounting-the .farnfan motor and suitably shaped bafl'le walls. 'bafile walls are fixed 'to the-barrier plate and extend up- The tivemeans'fortiasily mounting the fan-and fan motor and providing. air passage means for the air purifier is achieved.

Other objects and attendant advantages of this invention will be apparent from the' following description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1' is aperspective view' of the air purifier construction embodying ltheinvention, partly broken away to show details of construction;

a FIG. 2 isasectionalview ofthe air purifier taken subst-a-ntially on the plane Z -2 of FIG. 1;

, FIG. '3 is an exploded view' -ofthe'improved air purifier;

FIG. 4 is-a top view of thepurifier with the top wall remove'd'and the fan partly broken away;

FIG. 5 is ta'acircuit' di'agram forthe air purifier illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view ofth'e-irnproved ion generator 'subassembly,.with parts broken awayto show details of construction;

FIG.- 7 isa'frontelevational view of the improved ion generator subsassembly construction; and

FIG: 8is a bottom plan view of the improved ion generator subassembly.

assembly may he slipped through the enlarged ice Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, there is illustrated an air purifier comprising a housing or casing 1 which suitably encloses the operative parts of the air purifier. The casing 1 is preferably made of sheet metal and includes a top wall 2 shown broken away for purposes of illustration, a bottom wall 3 having an enlarged opening 4 formed therein, side walls 5 and 6, a front wall '7, and a rear wall 8. The front wall- 7 is formed with an air discharge opening 9 which may be provided with a suitable grille 10. Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings, it can be seen that the air purifier also includes a plurality of filters generally indicated by reference numeral 11 for filtering the incoming air, a fan 12 and motor 13 for causing air to flow through the purifier, and an ultra-violet lamp ion" generator generally indicated by reference numeral 14'. The operation of the ion generator is more particularly described in the co-pending application of George Dickinson and: William A. Omohundro, Serial No; 115,342 filed June 7, 1961, and assigned to the present assignee.

In accordance with the invention; a unique sub-assembly arrangement is provided" for mounting the" faii IZ and motor 13 and for affording" air passa'ge means through the air purifier. Referring now to F1614, this arrangement includes a sheet metal barrier latels. The plate'is generally rectangular and a circular air inlet opening 16 is provided in the right portionf the're'o'f. Thus, the fan motor 13 may be fixedfto the bottom Qf the plate by brackets 17 and 18 and screws 19, or' other suitable securing means. As shown, the fan blower wheel is located above the opening ai1d is" connected to the motor output shaft 13 which extends upwardly through opening 16. I

In order to'provi'de the desired airpassagemeansifrorln the air inlet opening 16"to theion' generator 14 and fromthe ion generator 14't0 the air-discharge'ope'nirig 9, a unique baflie' wall arrangement is subas semblefd to the barrier platel'Sl As shown inFIG. 2, the bafile walls 20' extend generally perpendicular to theba'r'rier plate 15'andth'e top'wall'2 and arepr'ovided'witlfuppr and lower flanges 21 and 22, respectively; The lower flanges 22 are'welded'or otherwise permanentlfse'c'ured to the upper surface of the barrier plate 15fto'ther'eby provide a readily formed subass'embly' whic'hf may' b'e easily handled during manufacturing operations. R uniform strip of deformable foamirubbe'r or' other suitable material is gluedor otherwise securedto theupp'er surface of upperfiange means"21"toprovide"an air sal between the baflle walls and 'thetopwall ofth'casing As shown more particularly inFIG S. l and-'2, inwardly extending flange means '24"is" forme'd on th side and front walls of the casing. Theflan'ges24 arearranged 'generally parallel to the top wall'zof the 'casin'g and their distance-from'the top wall of the casing is' substantially the same as the height of the baflle walls 20. By this arrangement, the unique fan motor" andbafiie' wall sub- 4 formed inthebottor'nwall B'offlthdhb ng positioned so that the ehd portions of the arrierp t are in contact with the ant-gee 2d. Then; screws 25 or other suitable" securihg neatlyay used'forcorinecting the plate 15 to fianges z ii The heighjt' ofith e battle walls as and the thickness'ot the'foain rubbei- 23 are so'related to thddiStanoe of 'th'eflangerzit below the top wall 2 that whenthe' plate" 15 is firied to the flanges 24 the foam rubber strip fis ufg'ed a gain s tthe top'wall 2of the casingfto' provide an air tightseal' between the baffle walls 20 and the 'top wall 2o f the'casingl Thus, air passagemeans is' .siniplyjand easily provided for the air purifier, thereby permitting elimination of additional sheet metal and connecting means which gen- 7 air passage means;

erally would be considered.

A uniquely designed arrangement is also provide'dfor necessary for. providing: such removably' mounting the ion generator and providing" readily accessible terminal leads therefor. As bestseen' in FIGS.,6 '7 and 8, this arrangement comprises a'flat red 7 tangularly shaped sheet of insulating material 26 of such; 7 size as tofill the opening at the "rear of the ca'sing between.

barrier plate lS'andthe rear wall 3. The ion generator includes a tubular ultra-violetr'larnp 28' and an elongated metal plate29 for emitting electrons when it is bombarded by photons from the ultra-violet ray lamp28; 7 Referring now toVFIGS. Z'and 3, the plate 29 is generally U-shaped in crossesection and, includes a; bottom wallet), an up Q standing side wall 31, and a top wallSZfor partially sur-f rounding thexultra-violet lamp 28; '"Ceramic electrode supporting brackets 33 having bottom metal connecting flanges 34 are provided for holding the lamp 28 in af'conv ventional manner; As shown mo'rerparticularlyinFIG; 7 two screws'3'5 may be providedf or fixing'lthetplate 29" isso selected with respect to thelheight of electron emittingj plate 29 that whenthejemitting plate is in the posi' tion shown in F1612, the resiliency of the plate 29 urges the top portion thereof into air. tight contact with the top wall 2 ofthe casing; Thus, an 'eifective seal for providing an} improved 7. ion generator ,is "achieved without the use ofadditional parts. t 'Theirnproved ainpurifier'is also constructed so that the filters maybe quickly and easily removably connected to the purifier at the air inlet opening 4. The filters preferablyinclude', a coarsefoam polyurethane' filter, pad 50, a superfineglass fiber filter pad"'1 and a bed .of activated 1*larlydesciribed in the1co-pendingapplicatlon of Peter -Kranz and William A.'. Omol1undr0,,Ser ial No. 115,348,

jfiled lune-7, 1961; and assigned to the present assignee.-

charcoal 52, he operationof theffilters is more particu- Referring: now'toFIG. 2 inwardly extending flanges 53 and the electrode brackets. 33 to the insulating.plate2'26.

In order to achieve-a more rigid structure andfor provid- -ing aconvenientlead opening to thelbrackets 33, bottom projections- 36' are integrally formed on ='the" ceramic 1 brackets e33-for cooperationwithcompleinentary holes" 37 l 'which are formed in the lplate 26. With'vthis arrange-' ment, a rigid support is achieved and. the electrical leads '38.forthe electrode 'brackets33-mayigconveniently -em'v tend upwardly through theplate 26 togtthe conventional. f

electrode connections within; bracketsfi fi; 1

in the groove formed by flange 391 and tabs 40. i Refert ring now to FIGS. 2 and 4, the rearmost por-tion'of barrier "plate -15"is provided with"two;downwardly, extending -flanges"41,?42 on the rightandleft-sides thereof toithe'rebys -formfa centrally locatedirearwardly, extending horizontal tab tportion 43a With this'arrang'e'ment the 1amp"14 and -plate}26-f subassemblyamayibevinserted through the en-f V V larged opening 4 formed in' the bottom; wall 3 ofth'ei casa ing and positioned in the vupper rear portion of the nous-'- ing with theyarfportion of plate 26"-located between flange 39 andtabs 40,'the,-front portion of the plate rest- 7 ing against tab portion 43, and the front edge surface in abutting relationship'with the. rearwallsof flanges 41 ;.and 42. In ordento removably secure the plate as :to

are formed: on the lower portions .ofthe front, rear and sidewalls "of theair purifier-and'aplurality of spaced downwardly extendingthreadedrods 54 are Welded or fleXiblejpad-filtersfagainst'the lower perforatedaplate 57 ,Jof the char'coalhousing. As shown, the-grille 60includes outwardly extendingjfront, rear and sidejflange's 61, and

otherwise secured to the flanges 53p A =housing'55; having perforated top andtbottorn plates56 and 57 respectivelypis' provided for suitably holding the activated charcoal; A s shown in' FlGs3, the housing also includes outwardly extendingeflanges- 58 formed at'fthe front, rear and I sides: thereof a and 1 a f plurality (of/openings I 159 are formedin' flangesf 58. With this arrangement the;charcoal housing may be quickly; assembled to the 'airpurifier .1 by'inserting the housingso that'the, threaded :rods .54 extend "through the 'j complementary openings: flangesfliSS of'fthe 59 and 1the charcoal housing abut the flanges "53 I A' metal. grille member 6011s I provided for: holding the fa-plurality ofiopenings 62farerforrned infthe flanges for therear portion,of barrier plate-15; two latches-"44 and;

7 45, shown more particularly in-FIGSLZ and 8, are suitably pivoted to the bottom surface of insulating plate 26 by pivots 46 and 47, respectively, and two complementary slots "48 and 49 are formed in d'ownwardly extending flanges 41fand 42, respectively, for receiving the ends of latches '44 and 45.

tion of the plate'26 and pivoting'the rear portionof plate by permit replacementof lamp ily removabletsubassembly' is achieved. The ultra-violet lamp andlelectron emitting'plate sub- 1'65, 26 within the groove formed by flange 39 and tabs 4t); V-Then thejrear portion ofthe plate 2 6may be removed;

fromthe groove formed by flange 39 and tabs 40 to there-j 14. A'ccordingly,'a read I assembly is also uniquely related with'resp'ect to the air purifier casing so that'a substantially air tightiseal is effected between the upper portion 32 of the electron emit ting plate and the top wall 2 of the air purifier casing. To

' '50 ar est-ma be. conveniently sandwichedbetween the 1 bottom perforatedwall 57 ofthe charcoal housing" and cooperatingwith the threaded rods 54. Thus,' the' filters the g'rille 6(lwith therods54' extending through the openings'62 formed-inthe g rille'flanges Asgshown, the flanges 61 of the grille: eirtend somewhat upwardly from the bottom wall of the;grille.,j(With.thisarrangement, the

edges of the padfi lters 50 and 51 are compressedbetween f flanges'58 and 61 .to s'ecurely hold thefilter pads. However, the central;p'ortions of the filters aretheld loosely ;between the bottom'wall of thefgrille and the bottom wa'll of the charcoal housing i'nf 'orderf tolijachieve full filter action; Tor-complete theassemblyg winged nuts 63 are provided for, cooperation with the threaded rods 54 pltoturge the'flange'sjof the grille upwardly. Accordingly, the filters may be readily-removed-from; the air; PllIlfifili;

housing by simply unthreading the winged nuts 63 from Referring now ito the circuit diagram of FIG. 5, "it is evidentthat the ultra-violetlamp 14 maybe suitably l I p 0:

With'this arrangement, the lamp 14-rand plate 26 subassembly maybe quicklyrr'emoved from the air -purifier casing by simply rotating latches 44 and 45 "out of their f "complementary-slots 48'and 49; lowering the forward por connected "to a standard ,volt' cycle alternating current source by aiconventional 'plug' connector 64.; A starter es and ballast 66 are also connected'in the circuit a conventional manner for properly energizing the ultraviolet lamp 14. As shown, the fan' motor 13-is connected inparallel Withftheultra violet'lamp 14'anda switch 67 is provided vfor simultaneously. energizing the fan'motor and the ultrarviolet lamp; 'In accordancewiththis invention,"all'of the'wiring forthis circuit'issuitably enclosed in the space'betweenbarrier plate :15 and the upper wall-56 of the charcoal'filter housing. 1'

1,, From uthe foregoing de'scription it be appreciated that the improved air purifier 5 construction includes a t minimum number of relativelyeasily manufactured subassemblies. 'Accordingly', with "the casing positioned/in 'up-side-down relationship'on an assembly line, the "fan achieve this; as shown rnore partieularly in- 2; the' distance from; the top wall 2 of the'casing to the flange 39 readily positioned and held in the desired locations by winged nuts 63. Thus, an exceedingly simple, yet effective 7 air purifier construction is achieved.

While there has been shown and described a particular embodiment of this invention, itwill be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made-therein without departing from the invention, and therefore,it is aimed in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. An air purifier'comprising, a casing having upstand ing front, rear and side walls, and generally parallel top and bottom walls, said bottom wall beingformed with an enlarged air inlet opening, flange means formed on the inside of said front, rear and side walls arranged generally parallel to said top and bottom walls, a plurality of spaced downwardly extending rods fixed to said flange means, a generally flat sheet metal housing for holding activated charcoal extending across said opening and having perforated upper and lower walls, said housing being provided with outwardly extending flange means having a plurality of apertures formed therein, said housing being positioned with the threaded rods extending through said apertures, a sheet metal grille of approximately the same cross-section as said housing and extending beneath said housing, said grille being provided with outwardly extending flange means having apertures formed therein for receiving said threaded rods, filter pad means positioned between said housing and said grille, and means threaded onto said threaded rods compressing the edges of said filter pad means between the grille flange means I and the housing.

2. An air purifier comprising, a casing having upstanding front, rear and side walls, and generally parallel top and bottom walls, said bottom wall being formed with an enlarged air inlet opening, flange means formed on the inside of said front, rear and side walls arranged generally parallel to said top and bottom walls, a plurality of spaced downwardly extending rods fixed to said flange means, a generally flat sheet metal housing for holding activated charcoal extending across said opening and having perforated upper and lower walls, said housing being provided with outwardly extending flange means having a plurality of apertures formed therein, said housing being positioned with the threaded rods extending through said apertures, a sheet metal grille having approximately the same crosssection as said housing and extending beneath said housing, said grille being provided with outwardly extending I filter pad means between the grille flange means and the housing.

3. An air purifier comprising a casing having upstanding front, rear and sidewalls and generally parallel top and bottom walls, a barrier plate, means supporting said plate in spaced parallel relation with respect to said top and bottom walls, a motor mounted on said barrier plate, a fan driven by said motor positioned between said barrier plate and said top wall, baflle walls fixed to the upper surface of said barrier plate forming a scroll around said fan and extending upwardly in air sealed relation with the inside surface of the top wall of the air purifier, and an enlarged opening formed in said bottom wall having 5 a larger cross-section than the barrier plate so that the plate with the fan, motor and baffle walls attached thereto may be readily passed through said opening as a unit.

4. The air purifier of claim 3 including resilient means fixed to the upper surface of said bafiie walls to form the airtight seal between the baflie walls and the top wall of the purifier.

5. An air purifier comprising a casing having upstanding front, rear and side walls and generally parallel top and bottom walls, flange means formed on the inside of said front, rear and side walls, a barrier plate supported within said casing by said flange means inparallel relation to said top wall, a fan motor mounted on said barrier plate, a fan driven by said motor positioned between said barrier plate and said top wall, baflle walls fixed to the upper surface of said barrier plate extending upwardly therefrom in airtight relation with the inside surface of said top Wall, ,and an enlarged opening for-med in the bottom wall. having a cross-section larger than said barrier plate so that the plate with the fan, motor and baflie walls fixed thereto may be readily passed through the opening as a unit and fixed to said flange means.

6. An air purifier comprising a casing having front, rear and side walls, inwardly extending flange means formed on each of said walls, a fan mounting barrier plate fixed to the flange means on said front wall and said side walls and being spaced from said rear wall, an insulating plate removablypositioned between said barrier plate and said rear wall, lamp holder means connected to said insulating plate at opposite ends thereof, an elongated ultra-violet lamp extending between said lamp holders and being supported thereby, an electron emitting plate connected to said insulating plate and extending in spaced relation adjacent said lamp, said insulating plate havingits rear edge supported by the flange means on said rear Wall, a depending flange formed along the rear edge of said barrier plate, a latch member mounted on said insulating plate to pivot -horizontally,'and a horizontally extending slot formed in said barrier plate flange for receiving said latch member to support the front edge of the insulating plate.

7. An air purifier comprising a casing having upstanding front, rear and side walls and generally parallel top and bottom walls, a barrier plate extending between said side walls and along said front wall parallel to said top and bottom walls and spaced from said rear wall, a fan motor mounted on said barrier plate, a fan driven by said motor positioned between said barrier plate and said top wall, bafiie walls fixed to the upper surface of said barrier plate in perpendicular relation thereto and extending upwardly therefrom in sealing relation with the inside surface of said top Wall, said bottom wall being formed with an inlet opening which is larger than said barrier plate so that said barrier plate with the fan, motor and baffle walls attached thereto may be readily passed through said opening as a unit, an insulating plate positioned between said barrier plate and said rear wall in substantially the same plane as the barrier plate, lamp holder means connected to said insulating plate at opposite ends thereof, an elongated ultra-violet lamp extending between said lamp holders and being supported thereby, an electron emitting plate extending along and adjacent to said lamp, and means for removably holding the insulating plate in the aforementioned position including flange means formed on said rear wall for supporting the rear edge of said insulating plate and latch means pivotally mounted on the lower surface of said insulating plate for cooperating with said barrier plate to removably hold the front edge of said insulating plate in said casing.

8. An air purifier comprising a casing having upstandfrom said rear Wall, an insulating plate'extending between- I enema the rearedge of said barrier plate and said rear wall'with 7 supported by the flangemeansvforrnedon said rear wall, a depending fiange formed on the rearedge' of said bar- 'rier -p1ate,horizontally extending slot means formed in said barrier plate flange, latchmeans attached to the lower surface 'of' vsaid insulating plate; to' pivot in a horizontal plane and cooperate with said slot; ineansj 'to' removably support the 'front edge of saidir'rsnlating plate, 1 lamp holder means connected 'to the upper surface of said "the rear. edge of the insulating plate being removably insulating plate vat opposite ends thereof}anrultra yiolet. lamp extending between said-lamp holder's and]being supported-thereby, and an electron emitting plate con'f t nected to saidinsulatingplate between said lamp holders,

said electron emitting-plate including a'i er ticallyextending wall portion and an upper portion angularlyextendi ing from the upper edge of zsaid vertical Wall portion IQ" the inner surface of ,said casing to'pfwall, said ernitting v plate being formed, of somewhat flexible material ;an d

lacing diinerisioned W ithi'res'pect to the space {between said insulating plate and said casing top wall' s uch that thefemitting plate upper portionis self-urged intoai'r sealing'conta'ct With'saidcasingtopwallg V,

' .HARRY B. THORNTON, Erimdry mmihe'r. 

1. AN AIR PURIFIER COMPRISING, A CASING HAVING UPSTANDING FRONT, REAR AND SIDE WALLS, AND GENERALLY PARALLEL TOP AND BOTTOM WALLS, SAID BOTTOM WALL BEING FORMED WITH AN ENLARGED AIR INLET OPENING, FLANGE MEANS FORMED ON THE INSIDE OF SAID FRONT, REAR AND SIDE WALLS ARRANGED GENERALLY PARALLEL TO SAID TOP AND BOTTOM WALLS, A PLURALITY OF SPACED DOWNWARDLY EXTENDING ROD FIXED TO SAID FLANGE MEANS, A GENERALLY FLAT SHEET METAL HOUSING FOR HOLDING ACIVATED CHARCOAL EXTENDING ACROSS SAID OPENING AND HAVING PERFORATED UPPER AND LOWER WALLS, SAID HOUSING BEING PROVIDED WITH OUTWARDLY EXTENDING FLANGE MEANS HAVING A PLURALITY OF APERTURES FORMED THEREIN, SAID HOUSING BEING POSITIONED WITH THE THREADED RODS EXTENDING THROUGH SAID APERTURES, A SHEET METAL GRILLE OF APPROXIMATELY THE SAME CROSS-SECTION AS SAID HOUSING AND EXTENDING BENEATH SAID HOUSING, SAID GRILLE BEING PROVIDED WITH OUTWARDLY EXTENDING FLANGE MEANS HAVING APERTURES FORMED THEREIN FOR RECEIVING SAID THREADED RODS, FILTER PAD MEANS POSITIONED BETWEEN SAID HOUSING AND SAID GRILLE, AND MEANS THREADED ONTO SAID THREADED RODS COMPRESSING THE EDGES OF SAID FILTER PAD MEANS BETWEEN THE GRILLE FLANGE MEANS AND THE HOUSING. 